


Lingo

by Subtle_Shenanigans



Category: Duolingo - Fandom, Logoverse, Pixar - Fandom
Genre: Blood, Chief Shorts, Don’t copy to another site, Duo is minorly in here, Gen, I am merely a conduit, I apologize for nothing excelt, I don’t know what you expect, I know nothing okay, Look I wrote a lamp fighting a giant green owl, Luxo/Mr I, Parody, Police, You thought I was done?, detevtive persona/assassain persona, for the madness of, i guess, losing train of thought in this a lot, more like an au, no beta we die like men, not a direct connection to S o o n, somewhat based off of minimal knowledge of detective like scenarios, that I couldn’t go further?, that allows every, the English language, thoughtless thought, to abound, tumblr crosspost, violence?, whyamIpostingthis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 02:09:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19075336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Subtle_Shenanigans/pseuds/Subtle_Shenanigans
Summary: Sometimes a case doesn’t always turn out like you expected.





	Lingo

**Author's Note:**

> ?????????????????
> 
> This idea slapped me out of the blue awhile ago and I wrote and posted it on tumblr. Thought I’d share it here lol.

   The day the file hit his desk was like that time he met the light of his life.

   Unexpected and unwanted.

   But years after marriage with a good kid and the old pang of grief after she burnt out taught him to keep a cool head and a calm acceptance. This was his lot in life.

   “Hey, Luck, chief wants you to take care of this one next. I know it ain’t ideal, but damn if he’s gonna let anyone less experienced in on it.”

    He made his irritation evident. First, at that nickname - it wasn’t even the proper short form of his name! Did he look like a leprechaun? Second, for the case. He knew what it was even without opening it.

   It was the only file in the whole precinct with the green marker on the tag.

    The **Lingo** case.

   His coworker shook his head sympathetically. “You know you’re the best, uh, ‘detective’ here, Luxo. Chief Shorts wouldn’t have requested you otherwise. He wants this taken care of quickly.”

    Luxo made his displeasure known, but nodded begrudgingly. While under the public eye he was nothing more than a special operations detective, in reality he was an assassian working under governmental law.

    A strange juxtaposition to be sure; a law-abiding killer. The police’s hunting dog.

    He dismissed his coworker with a flicker, and, turning on his light, opened the file.

* * *

    It wasn’t a pretty story.

    The victims ranging in the ages from the young to the elderly. Race, class, gender - none of it made a lick of difference to a murderer like this.

    The Lingo case had started about three years ago, around the new surge of people wanting to become multilingual. What had started as a fun, free, online course had turned deadly in a mere matter of weeks after its arrival.

     _Don’t break the streak._

    That’s all they had learned, from the few victims that had managed to live. Don’t break your streak.

    It lead to a rise in panic; many just deleted the program, or kept going, or outright ignored the police investigation all together, calling it an “urban legend” and that it was all falsehoods. Soon, less and less people worried about it, even as more and more bodies popped up. Lux shook his head and clicked in disappointment. The public really _was_ easily swayed.

    He flicked past the first few entries, old and already read years ago. It was the fresh ones he wanted - to see if there was a lick of difference.

   

There wasn’t.

 

    They were all attacked the same way; dead of night with their bodies torn and shredded as though with knives. Or claws. Bled out before help arrived or were so damaged that they would suffer permanent injury for life.

    He called an old friend, Geri, and asked him to watch Junior. Who knew how long this buissness would go on, after all?

    He let the boss know that he was on his way to work on the Lingo case, and not to bother him for a few days. If he doesn’t contact him in a week, assume the worst.

    Chief Shorts nodded.

    And then he was gone; out the door and into the world, no longer Detective Luxo, but Mister I, the assassin.

* * *

     He debated making his own account to lure the target, but that would take away the element of surprise. Instead, he followed whispers trickling through alleys and muttered fears amongst civilians.

   He even changed his sleep schedule; he shut down during the day and flicked on at night. Each step led him closer.

   He met more than one dead end, of course. Rumor, misinterpretation - it was impossible to tell what was viable information and what wasn’t on such a case. And who knows what lies those he intimidated fed him to save their own skins?

   In the end it doesn’t even matter.

   Because he found _him_.

   Duo wasn’t quite what he expected; he was much, much bigger than he originally thought, but it made sense if he was taking down fully grown men. In the dark of night his plumage was almost teal, rather than green, and his eyes. . .well, in the light they shone like polished obsidian.

   He had one hefty foot pinning down a human, claws dug viciously into their back. Even with his light, Luxo wouldn’t tell much about the person due to all the blood and torn flesh.

   It - he - _Duo_ opened his beak, a hot, breathy garble of words spilling out. It wasn’t a language Luxo could name, but the sentiment was simple enough.

   He had debated responding, but to hell with it - the owl could probably understand Morse.

    _Y-o-u a-r-e d-o-n-e._

 He had rushed through the the sentence but the owl obviously was smart - even though Luxo rushed him, he managed to dodge the powerful hop in his direction. Asphalt cracked beneath where he landed and he whipped around, swinging under a lash of talons.

   This wouldn’t be easy.

   He barely scraped by the next flurry of swipes, as wings brushed up and battered at him. In retaliation he managed to swing up under one of the swipes and blind the owl momentarily. It screeched - a horrible, indescribable sound - and Luxo stomped down _hard,_  feeling talons crunch beneath him.

   He barely hopped back in time when Duo kicked up, eyes filling with red light, and a chorus of screaming, unintelligible words burst forth like a curse. The owl rushed faster than he expected, and Luxo got knocked back into the brick wall, light going dim as he hit.

   When his vision cleared the owl was gone.

* * *

 

    “Luxo. You did good - they said that the victim will survive the surgery. Ah ah ah,” Chief Shorts waved a finger as Luxo seemed to fold in on himself, “this is not a failure. You managed to encounter Duo, as well as fight him. This still gives us some insight into the case. Now,” he folded his hands on the desk, “go home and get some rest.”

    _B-u-t S-i-r_ —

   He held up a hand. “No. You have a cracked dome and need to rest. Luxo, you and I both know that you’re not going to let this case drop, or your target get away. So just, go home and rest. Spend some time with your son. Okay?”

   After a moment, he nodded slowly.

   “Good,” Chief Pixar Shorts grinned. “I’ll call to check up on you tommarrow. Now, go.”

   And with that, Luxo took his leave, hopping out the door.

   But, before getting home, he snagged the Lingo file.

   After all, studying the case file wouldn’t be the same as field work, right?


End file.
